Reflections

I have been very busy lately. Last weekend, I attended a wood duck photo workshop in Ohio and posted about it on my other blog, http://birdswithpersonality.blogspot.com. Such a trip requires almost as much time packing as the workshop takes. I was grateful for packing a parka and gloves because it was about 10 degrees colder up there than here in Pittsburgh. I haven't even put away my luggage yet and am still editing almost 800 photos.
Last night, my husband and I got free tickets to see Jean-Michel Cousteau at Heinz Hall. It was a very entertaining and thought-provoking speech. He showed several clips from his DVDs about Midway, an endangered fish, and a toxic test on Orca whales and humans, including himself. A woman (a vegetarian, no less) and her 4-year old son tested the highest in toxic elements in their bodies. One reason is that they live in California, which has a law requiring many household items to be flame-retardant. Evidently, those chemicals pass into the bodies of humans. Cousteau compared Orcas and humans because they are both at the top of the food chain. Orcas absorb toxins that are released into the water over decades, such as garbage, chemicals, sewage, etc.